The Season 6 Cliffhanger

The season 6 cliffhanger of Falcon Crest, although not as strong as the one for season 2, it's still is one of my favourites of all the prime time soaps. It wasn't just one cliffhanger but 4:

Will Emma jump off the roof and will she survive?

Will Chao-Li survive after having an apparent heart attack and falling down the stairs?

Richard Channing is revealed to be Angela's son.

Will Dan, Chase and Richard come out of the San Francisco Bay alive?

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Of the 4 cliffhangers, I've always thought the most surprising and impactful was Peter's letter to Angela telling her that Richard was the baby she thought had died shortly after birth and I feel the episode would have been better ending on that bombshell rather than the drama of the car going into the bay. Peter's letter was arguably the biggest twist ever in Falcon Crest which would have massive consequences for the characters in subsequent years so why didn't it end on this scene rather than the subsequent one which always seemed lower key in comparison?

It was an excellent season finale but I think they got the order of things right. Yes, Peter's revelation may have been Falcon Crest's biggest twist, but the car going into the bay was them killing off one of the show's most important characters, so I wouldn't say it was lower key. Sure, we didn't know at the time whether anyone would perish in the crash, but if any soap was likely to kill off an important character it was Falcon Crest. So I think it was a fittingly high stakes end to the episode. And as a general rule for a season finale a (potential) death would usually trump a revelation when it comes to the final scene.

I think I agree with @Angela Channing.
All the havoc that came from the bay accident would give us the idea that was the last big thing.
And then, when we're still trying to recover from all the excitement, we see Angela in her study. But why? What could possibly be more important?

It would be the shock on top of the shock, also because we had just witnessed Richard disappearing into deep water.
Would her firstborn die after all? The fact that she's not aware of all the drama makes it even more delicious.

As for Emma and Chao-Li...hmm, I could have done without those unnecessary mini-cliffhangers. The rooftop is so fake and as a rule I don't like people who threaten to jump. Stop wasting my time and just do it. Jump! Jump! Jump!

It was an excellent season finale but I think they got the order of things right. Yes, Peter's revelation may have been Falcon Crest's biggest twist, but the car going into the bay was them killing off one of the show's most important characters, so I wouldn't say it was lower key. Sure, we didn't know at the time whether anyone would perish in the crash, but if any soap was likely to kill off an important character it was Falcon Crest. So I think it was a fittingly high stakes end to the episode. And as a general rule for a season finale a (potential) death would usually trump a revelation when it comes to the final scene.

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When I first watched that cliffhanger, I thought Dan Fixx will die as he was easily dispensable but I was doubtful they would kill off either Richard or Chase which is why I thought the last scene by the bay had less impact than the one that proceeded it. In fact, I was still reeling from the revelation that Richard was Angela's son that I wasn't really that bothered about any scene that followed it.

I think I agree with @Angela Channing.
All the havoc that came from the bay accident would give us the idea that was the last big thing.
And then, when we're still trying to recover from all the excitement, we see Angela in her study. But why? What could possibly be more important?

It would be the shock on top of the shock, also because we had just witnessed Richard disappearing into deep water.
Would her firstborn die after all? The fact that she's not aware of all the drama makes it even more delicious.

As for Emma and Chao-Li...hmm, I could have done without those unnecessary mini-cliffhangers. The rooftop is so fake and as a rule I don't like people who threaten to jump. Stop wasting my time and just do it. Jump! Jump! Jump!

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Using the clip from the Jane Wyman film The Blue Veil, was a stroke of genius which made that twist more believable and easier to accept. The revelation was so well done that it would made a great climax for the series.

I agree with you about the Emma and Chao-Li mini-cliffhangers, totally superfluous considering the drama that was to follow.

In fact, I was still reeling from the revelation that Richard was Angela's son that I wasn't really that bothered about any scene that followed it.

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The big events (crashes, earthquakes etc) are very overwhelming and exciting and therefore the perfect way to end a season.
But it's not hard to understand what's going on, as opposed to the news about Richard (and the Falcon Crest dynasty) - an important piece of information that needed to sink in.
Personally I think it would have been more suitable for the season 7 cliffhanger.

And I want Kim Novak and her pilot to burst into spontaneous human combustion as the result of sipping a bottle of Falcon Crest's finest-but-tainted chardonnay, as their plane goes crashing into the mansion only moments after Angela read's Peter's shocking letter.

The ending to season 6 really was the last the show provided, in it's renowned dramatic style. The conclusion to the next season was edge of the seat too but turned out to be an anticlimax. Maybe having Peter's letter as the last scene of 1986 - '87 could have worked better but having four main characters' life in peril down in the bay was as compelling, as you could get.

Just before Peter leaves Falcon Crest he presents Angela with a letter, (a scene from season 6, 1986 - '87):

Angela remembers what Peter said before he left, "once you've read it my dear, your life will never be the same."

She begins to read the letter, after Peter has flown out of California, on his private jet. We then hear the voiceover of Peter.

"My darling Angela what you're about to open is a Pandora's box. I pray I've made the right decision, in giving it to you. When I went first to find something to help you destroy Richard Channing I discovered his father Douglas Channing had left a safe deposit box, in a Swiss bank.

The bribe worked and the box was mine. Inside were several documents and a confession; you're ex husband's confession. Angela my dear, Douglas and his mistress hated you so much they did a terrible thing. The first child the one before Julia and Emma was born healthy and yet died so mysteriously, (the beginning of flash back scenes). He didn't die. Douglas and Jacqueline Perrault stole him, to hurt you.

They faked the death certificate and sent him off, to be raised in Europe. The boy grew up, fed on hate. Richard Channing is your son. The proof is in the enclosed envelope." Angela sitting at her desk doesn't know which way to turn or to who.

To have Jane's film clips in the scene was a extra bonus, for authenticity but should one film image of Lana have also been there?

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They did well to include the clip from The Blue Veil because the film is rarely seen these days because it has long been tied up in a complicated copyright dispute so it has never been released on DVD or VHS which is a real pity because it is a really excellent film.

Not having Julia and Chase around was likely part of the decision to make Richard the son of Angela. A bizarre move but a move which created a new dynamic, twist and turns for the remaining third of the show. The shocking 6th cliffhanger as to be high up with the best of Dallas, Dynasty and Knots.

I've finally gotten around to editing the final 5 minutes of season 6 to create the cliffhanger to look how I would have preferred to be: ending with the revelation that Richard is Angela's son. While I was doing it, I realised Jane had no dialogue in that scene and she just conveyed Angela's range of emotions with just her face. I love the bit when she laughs to herself as she reads the bit in the letter where Peter talks about destroying Richard.